| Wow!
So finally, a chance to sit down and reflect a bit about everything
that's been going on these past weeks.
First off- as many of you who I have already been in brief contact
with via phone already know, on September 8th I summited Mt. Katahdin
together with Heidi (H-Bomb), Jangles, Baro, Mouse, Donkey (Love)
and Hot Springs who we (H and I) had been walking with on and off
since mile 114. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and a beautiful
way to finish hiking the Appalachian Trail. As with everything else
in life, the end of the trail and this incredible experience, being
all at once removed from American society and also reentering it
through places long forgotten to many, came incredibly quickly.
We left Monson, ME on the 1st of September after spending a wonderfully
relaxing day on the 31st at Shaw's boarding house. I actually managed
to convince quite a group of the hikers present to sit up with me
til 1am watching Agassi play in the US Open- fun stuff. This last
part of the trail, the famed "100 Mile Wilderness" was
a most fitting end to the journey. We had heard all sorts of stories
as to how hard this section of the trail would be and although there
was a day where seemed to get lost in some sort of time warp, it
was amazing to find that really, it just wasn't all that tough.
The last 25 miles of New Hampshire (AFTER the White Mountains, if
you can believe that) and the first 50 miles of Maine had most definitely
kicked our butts to the point that our definition of a challenge
had been raised a few bars. And so, it was wonderful to be able
to relax and enjoy our time in the 100 Miles because we didn't have
to worry if we were actually going to be able to walk as far as
we had set out to that morning.
The best part of the Wilderness was definitely the last few days.
We saw our first Moose! We saw two of them actually. I saw the first
one when I woke up to a splashing noise in the pond (actually a
lake by everyone else's standards except a Mainer's) that we had
camped right next to. The second sighting happened on probably the
most perfect day of hiking along the entire trail. The weather was
absolutely beautiful, we set out with a goal of fairly low miles
from the very beginning of the day, hung out on the beaches of a
beautiful pond (again, lake), and got our first really close feeling
of Katahdin. It was nice because we kept meeting up at all of these
viewpoints/ rest points through out the day, yet were able to walk
by ourselves and also find some down time alone to take in everything
that we had accomplished. I came up behind H-Bomb, always the speed
demon in the front, stopped in the middle of the trail by the water.
There, just 25 feet from us was an absolutely huge bull moost with
an antler span much further than my own arm wing span. One by one
everyone came up to where we were and the moose gave us quite a
show, displaying his antlers and yet acting completely oblivious
to our presence, eating and mucking around in the water. We watched
him for a good 30 minutes and then he came out of the water and
gave Mouse a false charge. He turned away and we thought that the
show was over, but then we heard him make a call sound and were
surprised to hear it answered somewhere in the woods on the other
side of us. Suddenly there were the sounds of two moose running
at each other through the woods and *Crash*! Absolutely amazing-
and the most perfect end to the most beautiful day and incredible
experience.
As I've already said, our final summit, up Mt. Katahdin was amazing
with incredible weather and tons of hikers- both thru-hikers (14),
many of whom we had traveled a good part of the trail with and many
many day-hikers. When we began our climb in the morning I had to
admit that I was still nervous as to just how tough it would be-
it had been touted as one of the most challenging of the entire
trail and undeniably the greatest continuous elevation change. And
as we were walking, it sank in as to what we had accomplished individually,
and for me, especially physically. By this point on the trail, it's
often joked "No one passes a thru-hiker," and no matter
what shape people started the trail in over 2,170 miles beforehand
it seems to hold true. It's not that the hiking and climbing isn't
still a challenge- it still very much is, but it feels good to push
myself in that way now instead of hurting.
As for my goals of wanting to use this journey to figure out what's
next for me, in the end, I think that I gained more by not reaching
that goal. I learned that it was okay not to think too much about
"the next thing" and just really enjoy what I was doing
at that moment in time.
After a whirlwind around Acadia National Park (Maine coast) and
then the Boston area, I'm currently in New York enjoying reconnecting
with RPCVs from Tanzania (There are 9 currently living here!). I
head home to California on the 30th and look forward to seeing everyone
there and being on the West Coast and hopefully, a little more rooted
for awhile.
Love to you all!
Jessica
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